Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

He really is that stupid.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Second rate reporter says what?

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

You are here: Home / If the TSA Ran New York

If the TSA Ran New York

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James Fallows imagines a Times Square Security Administration (TsSA) and gets it about right:

– All vans or SUVs headed into Midtown Manhattan would have to stop and have their contents inspected. If any vehicle seemed for any reason to have escaped inspection, Midtown in its entirety would be evacuated;

[…]

– The restrictions would never be lifted and the TsSA would have permanent life, because the political incentives here work only one way. A politician who supports more open-ended, more thorough, more intrusive, more expensive inspections can never be proven “wrong.” The absence of attacks shows that his measures have “worked”; and a new attack shows that inspections must go further still. A politician who wants to limit the inspections can never be proven “right.” An absence of attacks means that nothing has gone wrong — yet. Any future attack would always and forever be that politician’s “fault.” Given that asymmetry of risks, what public figure will ever be able to talk about paring back the TSA?

The whole thing is worth a read.

Reader Interactions

57Comments

  1. 1.

    John Cole

    Why aren’t you taking this failed attack seriously? Why do you hate America? You’re with us or against us! Drill baby drill! They hate us for our freedoms!

  2. 2.

    New Yorker

    Of course, “The Simpsons” got here first:

    Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm!
    Lisa: That’s specious reasoning, dad.
    Homer: Why thank you, honey.
    Lisa: By your logic, I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
    Homer: Hmm. How does it work?
    Lisa: It doesn’t work; it’s just a stupid rock!
    Homer: Uh-huh.
    Lisa: But I don’t see any tigers around, do you?
    Homer: Hmm… Lisa, I want to buy your rock.

  3. 3.

    mistermix

    @John Cole: You might appreciate this post, which was a trackback from what appears to be a wingnut blog:

    They, who-ever they may be, managed to get a car bomb into the heart of Times Square, a visual image that has stunning resonance across the globe. In the terms of probability, no-one debates that the likelihood of another terrorist attack on American soil is near inevitable.

    In geopolitical terms, this was the equivalent of Luke Skywalker hurling down to the Death Star and squeezing a photon torpedo through that tiny little gullet – except the torpedo didn’t go off this time.

    http://weekendranter.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/america-vs-al-qaedathe-times-square-bomb-scare/

  4. 4.

    Mike Kay

    he’s got a point.

    we should eliminate TSA and simply hand out handguns to all the airplane passengers. That way if someone tries to hijack the plane, the passengers can overpower him.

  5. 5.

    burnspbesq

    If the terrists can’t get into Midtown, they can go to the Upper East Side and blow up bankers. Some might see that as a win-win outcome.

  7. 7.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    Unless it interferes with business. Try this:

    A politician who supports more open-ended, more thorough, more intrusive, more expensive inspections of oil can never be proven “right.” The absence of leaks shows that his measures were not needed; and a new leak shows that the free market must be given a chance. A politician who wants to limit the inspections can never be proven “wrong.” An absence of leaks means that everything works. Any future leak would never be that politician’s “fault.” Given that asymmetry of risks, what public figure will ever be able to talk about regulating oil?

  9. 9.

    New Yorker

    @mistermix:

    Can wingnuts ever make a point without making reference to a work of fiction? Jack Bauer!

    Also, I refuse to dignify the absurd contraption found in that SUV by calling it a “car bomb”. Somwhere, Ramzi Yousef is shaking his head….

  11. 11.

    burnspbesq

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    If it were up to me, I would send the terrists to blow up the 161st Street subway station and hope for a lot of collateral damage.

  14. 14.

    Mike Kay

    @mistermix: how dare that wingnut ass wipe compare the United States to a “deathstar” and the domestic terrorist to “luke skywalker”!?!

    he probably sees tim mcveigh as han solo (tim shot first!)_

  16. 16.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    @mistermix: So, you’re the right now. Winger!!

    ETA: I like this quote from the fallows piece, indicating that dr. bloor’s hysteria is overblown, and how you should act:

    This is at least the tenth such plot on New York foiled since 9/11/2001, and the city continues to thrive. Just hours after the failed attack was discovered and the vehicle removed, Times Square was once again packed and back to business.

  20. 20.

    Randy Paul

    Quick, someone get me a Steve Den Beste link

    I used to write Steven den Beste haikus. I’ll see if I can find some.

    FWIW, I work at 120 Broadway in the financial district. THE NYPD has a checkpoint in front of the building and they do routinely stop trucks and vans.

  22. 22.

    freelancer

    @mistermix:

    its more important to realize that terrorism operates psychologically, and a failed bombing doesn’t mean there are no casualties.

    I have four or five responses to this, but they all end up with me slamming my head into my desk anyways, so fuck it.

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @freelancer: I once worked with someone who would suggest that people “put on their big boy/girl pants” and deal with it.

  30. 30.

    Corner Stone

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think we’re all pretty sure John Cole circa 2003 would proudly take Big Dick Cheney 7 days a week and twice on Sunday over any pantywaist liberal.

  31. 31.

    Corner Stone

    I’m just being pissy because Paulino left a fastball over the inside half of the plate and AZ hitter crushed it to the Crawford Boxes for a 3 run HR.
    Fooking young hard throwin’ pitchers. They’ll be the death of me.

  32. 32.

    Bnut

    When i moved to NYC from Alabama last year, a lot of people threw the same old lines of either a)Why do you want to live in hippie-ville or b)Aren’t you scared of terrorist attacks? Few seem to be able to wrap their minds around the fact that many, many, many people in this world live with the constant threat of terrorism. NYC, London, Madrid, Baghdad, anywhere in Israel. If the people of tea bag nation had their way, NYC would be either a complete police state, or completely empty of people. Guess what asshat wingers: THIS hippie commie socialist pinko whatever is not fucking scared. Maybe of you, but certainly not of some lowlife, dipshit terrorist who wants nothing more than for GOP dreams to come true.

  34. 34.

    Corner Stone

    @mistermix: If I were young and stupid again I would regale this audience with stories about the pipe b@mb$ we made when we were not too swift.
    And the things we did with them…not very fucking bright.
    How any of us made it. Course, more than a few of us didn’t.

  35. 35.

    burnspbesq

    @John Cole:

    What is this “eixstential threat” of which you speak? All the Existentialists are long since dead and buried.

    On the other hand, the threat of deconstruction is very real.

  36. 36.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MaryRC: I was doing a semester abroad in London at the time of the Brighton Hotel bombing. One simply takes sensible precautions and goes on with one’s life.

  37. 37.

    MaryRC

    @MaryRC:

    I’m not sure what happened there but here’s where I was going with that:

    I lived in England during one of the worst years of IRA terrorism. They tried to blow up Harrods. Bombs really did go off.

    And people just got on with their lives. They stayed calm. I remember having a qualm or two myself in Oxford Circus underground station, imagining the carnage that a bomb could cause in that confined space. But people didn’t stop using the subway, they put on their big girl/boy pants as Omnes’ friend says and dealt with it.

  39. 39.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @MaryRC: Technically, she wasn’t my friend; she is an appalling person, but it is a good saying nonetheless.

  40. 40.

    Kilkee

    @MaryRC: Weren’t there actually simple red & white “Remain Calm” signs posted in the WW2 Underground? Same thing.

  41. 41.

    ccham44

    I live nine blocks from the site, and my wife works in the MTV building where the vehicle was parked. This barely registered as water-cooler conversation this morning, other than to laugh at this numb-nuts’ pathetic attempt to hurt/frighten people.

    Personally, I find it comforting that the closest things we’ve had to a successful attack in this city was a group of morons who bought fake explosives from the Feds, and a guy who tried to blow up some tanks that that Mythbusters demonstrated won’t blow up in a fire.

    But then again, I just a pansy-ass, Manhattan liberal; not a big, strong, Real Murkin.

  42. 42.

    Kilkee

    @Kilkee: Oh, actually, “Keep Calm and Carry On,” but apparently they never really got distributed, per Wiki. Too bad: so British.

  43. 43.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @ccham44:

    But then again, I just a pansy-ass, Manhattan liberal; not a big, strong, Real Murkin.

    That is one of the things that always amazes me; the “brave” righties wetting their pants over any imaginable threat. How fucking manly is that?

  48. 48.

    Svensker

    @Corner Stone:

    That’s assuming you could’ve seen the keyboard through your spittle flecked venom.

    I’m pretty sure it was venom-flecked spittle.

  50. 50.

    Kyle

    And any minute now Hugh Hewitt will issue a breathless news release proclaiming his bravery in the front lines of the War on Terror, because he rode through Times Square in a taxi JUST LAST MONTH, mere FEET from the location of the IslamoLibrulDoomsday car bomb.
    As always, this attack proves the need for tax cuts.

  51. 51.

    kay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Accused “underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab entered a Detroit courtroom under high security today and pleaded not guilty to charges that he tried to blow up a jetliner filled with Christmas travelers.

    Remember him? We’re holding him ON AMERICAN SOIL!

    It’s unthinkable, but there it is.

  54. 54.

    Wile E. Quixote

    @John Cole:

    I’m fucking moist with nostalgia for warblogging circa 2003. Quick, someone get me a Steve Den Beste link.

    Do you want a Steve Den Beste link where he speculates about the possibility that France might turn around and attack the United States if we attack Iraq or just one of the more common ones where he talks about which Anime series has the best wanking quotient fan service?

  55. 55.

    Wile E. Quixote

    Oh, and here it is, the highest quality bit of SDB nostalgia evah!

    This is my favorite part:

    If 20 cargo jets take off from French territory and head towards the middle east, what will we do? If they ignore all attempts to prevent them from reaching Iraq, would we be willing to actually shoot one or more of them down?

    It’s like a story problem for wingnuts.

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